BROCKTON – Former Brockton Police Chief William Conlon said he was “sickened and saddened” when he heard that the driver who struck and killed a state trooper in 2010 was sentenced earlier this month to serve one year in jail.

“I’m not sure that a year seems like a very good tradeoff,” Conlon said. “It doesn’t send a loud enough message.”

State Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, agrees with Conlon and said he is planning to file a bill by January that would stiffen motor vehicle homicide laws in the state.

State police Sgt. Douglas Weddleton, 52, was killed June 16, 2010, when he was struck by a vehicle after he had pulled over another vehicle on Interstate 95 in Mansfield.

Anthony Perry Jr., 51, of Hyde Park, was found guilty of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, a misdemeanor, by a Fall River jury earlier this month. He was sentenced to one year in jail and three years of probation upon his release from jail. He also lost his driver’s license for 15 years and was ordered not to seek a license reinstatement or get a license from another state.

Conlon, who was Brockton police chief from 2006 to 2012, had a 15-year friendship with Weddleton.

Weddleton, a father of three, and Conlon lived in Brockton at the same time and had children of similar age. Weddleton would visit the Brockton police station to gather ballistics evidence.

“He’s a Brockton resident and so am I. Our kids were the same age and played baseball in the same league,” Conlon said.

He said he is “sickened and saddened” by the result of Perry’s trial.

“I feel horrible for the family. They’ve waited a long time for some closure, and I don’t think this is the closure they were looking for. I don’t think they feel any sense of justice is served,” Conlon said.

During a victim impact statement in the courtroom after Perry was found guilty, Weddleton’s wife, Judy Weddleton, said, “There is no punishment great enough, which you could serve, that would be justice.”

In Massachusetts, motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of 21/2 years in jail.

Attorney Russell Matson, who has a law practice in Braintree, said the crime is classified as a misdemeanor because the person is found to not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and it is not premeditated.

“If someone goes out and does something deliberately dangerous, that’s a different story,” he said.

For Conlon, he thinks the law is too lenient and Weddleton’s family must now suffer the consequences.

Page 2 of 2 - “It’s something that the Legislature should consider. We’re stuck with the laws that we have so unless we change them we have to live with them,” he said. “Instances like this make you wonder, maybe it is time for change because this doesn’t seem to be working.”

Timilty is hoping to work to make penalties stiffer for those convicted of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation. He still vividly remembers the call he got from a state trooper who worked with Weddleton informing him of his death.

Timilty pioneered the Move Over Law in the state, which requires drivers approaching a stationary emergency or maintenance vehicle to move safely over one lane and slow down. The law went into effect in 2009.

“We may have to look at the negligent operation,” he said. “I’m certainly going to take a look at augmenting that sentence.”